Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) will celebrate its grand opening at Lake Union Park December 29. Northwest Seaport wishes to celebrate this opening at Historic Ships Wharf by creating events to offer celebration attendees during the opening weekend and January 1 and 3, 2013.

Northwest Seaport is pleased to work with marine artist Byron Birdsall and to highlight this pen and ink artwork of the tugboat ARTHUR FOSS while underway. This artwork is the featured December 2012 month in the Foss Maritime Company’s tugboat calendar. Artwork will be displayed in tug’s galley. Byron Birdsall is one of Alaska’s most reknowned artists and one of Annie Kaill’s bestselling artists. His paintings feature brilliant landscapes, as well as uniquely Alaskan images such as puffins, eagles, and fishing boats.

Roll up your sleeves and try to cork a deck seam with an experienced shipwright who has been working in boatyards from Washington to Alaska. Visitors will have the opportunity to pick up a corking mallet and learn to hammer cotton and oakum into the seams and seal them with pitch in the traditional fashion…or just watch Brian Johnson and others demonstrate corking.

On December 29 Northwest Seaport board members will turn on more than 2000 feet of lights decorating the historic Lightship No.83 SWIFTSURE. South Lake Union community members and MOHAI grand opening attendees will gather for an official Lighting of the Lightship just after sunset. Event sponsored by Vulcan, Inc.

On December 29 Northwest Seaport board members will turn on more than 2000 feet of lights decorating the historic Lightship No.83 SWIFTSURE. South Lake Union community members and Museum of History and Industry grand opening attendees will gather for an official Lighting of the Lightship just after sunset at 4:30p.m.

Northwest Seaport is in the process of a restoration project that includes replacing the wooden deck and restoring the electrical system. Upon completion of the restoration, the Lightship No. 83 will be open to visitors.

“The MOHAI grand opening is a grand community event, and Northwest Seaport wishes congratulate the organization on such a landmark event.” said Otto Loggers, Executive Director. “We also hope visitors looking out the maritime gallery exhibition windows onto the Historic Ships Wharf will connect the exhibits with the Seaport’s floating fleet and the Northwest’s maritime heritage.”

Lightship No. 83 SWIFTSURE (1904) is one of the oldest lightships in the country and the only one to have her original steam engines. A lightship acts as a lighthouse and is used in locations unsuitable for lighthouse construction. The 129-foot ship is a National Historic Landmark and is on the Washington State Heritage Register. The Lightship No. 83 has made its home in many ports, and has had many names — first “Blunts Reef,” then “San Francisco,” then “Relief,” and finally “Swiftsure,” in the tradition of assuming the name of the nearest lightship station. Today, Northwest Seaport is in the process of a restoration project that includes replacing the wooden deck and restoring the electrical system. Upon completion of the restoration, the Lightship No. 83 will be open to visitors.

Northwest Seaport crew and volunteers will decorate holiday lighting on the Swiftsure’s deck, railing and rigging.

This event would not be possible without the generous support from Vulcan Inc., a member of the South Lake Union business community. Lighting of the Lightship will be a beacon of holiday spirit and celebration of MOHAI’s grand opening.

Thank you for your support in 2012! With your help, Northwest Seaport continued to strengthen our services to the community by continuing restoration of our National Historic Landmark ships, providing public programming at Lake Union Park’s Historic Ships Wharf, and showing national leadership through our maritime heritage projects. Your generous gift will help Northwest Seaport continue and broaden these efforts in 2013.

With your help and strategic fundraising we filled three new staff positions: Executive Director-Otto Loggers, engineer-Adrian Lipp, and Vessel Manager/Nautical Archeologist-Nathanial Howe. These staff added several new programs, including the Job Skills and Work Exchange Program, Boatwright-in-Residence, Engineer Work Parties, school tours, and a new Man Overboard event for the Wooden Boat Festival. Supporting our staff and increasing volunteer involvement are critical to Northwest Seaport’s ability to do even more in 2013.

Our successes in 2012 include the following:

A highly acclaimed presentation on our work to document the Lightship’s systems at the Council of American Maritime Museums’ annual conference and Washington State Historical Society lecture series by Nathaniel Howe.

Funding from the National Park Service to write an article for SEA HISTORY on the decision-making process that ultimately led to the deconstruction of the Schooner WAWONA. This first article of a three-part series will help guide other maritime heritage nonprofits facing similar decisions.

Distribution of WAWONA artifacts to local and national institutions, including the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI). WAWONA artifacts will be visible throughout the new MOHAI, including the sculpture created by John Grade using repurposed timbers to create an internationally acclaimed work.

A large variety of activities, hosted by volunteers, onboard the tugboat ARTHUR FOSS. We continue to have this ship serve the community, continuing its legacy as a work boat.

Began a Boatwright-in-Residence program, also in conjunction with CWB, which will provide skilled labor to support ARTHUR FOSS restoration.

Continued our support of a young man who is changing his life. After living and working aboard the ARTHUR FOSS, he successfully transitioned to Tongue Point Maritime Training Center. His is an amazing journey from the streets to an award-winning student and leader today. He has been supported by a collaborative effort among local maritime organizations which provides a model for making positive change.

Hosted a fireworks viewing party and ice cream social on the ARTHUR FOSS on the Fourth of July as extensions of our participation in the annual Wooden Boat Festival a Lake Union Park.

Offered the very popular “Tugboat Story Time” twice monthly In partnership with The Center for Wooden Boats. On at least one Thursday morning, nearly 100 toddlers and their families attended the 30-minute storybook reading and open ship tours.

And of course we continue the long-running monthly Chantey Sings.

Northwest Seaport’s newest neighbor, MOHAI, opens December 29, 2012 in the old Naval Reserve building and is expected to drawing tens of thousands of new visitors to Lake Union Park. A maritime exhibit will overlook Northwest Seaport’s vessels. Strolling the Historic Ships’ Wharf and boarding our ships will become a natural part of the park experience for new visitors in the coming years.

In 2012, King County 4Culture recognized our work with a Landmark Challenge Grant of $25,000, the maximum funding, to complete system revitalization for the tug ARTHUR FOSS. Systems repair will begin this winter in parallel with our continued work to restore the hull, supported by an earlier grant.

In 2013 we will continue to capitalize on opportunities to better serve our members and the public at large. We are looking forward to great opportunities and meeting challenges, such as the continuing restoration for LIGHTSHIP 83 and ARTHUR FOSS. This significant work is supported by your generous support and the grants Northwest Seaport has acquired.

Last year at this time, with your support, we hired staff and made great strides as an organization. Your donations and continued support will help achieve our 2013 goals. Together, we have so much that we can share with the community.

Please give NOW as generously as you can in support of Northwest Seaport. Please, donate by Mail or PayPal.

This holiday event always brings out the festive mood through both individual and ensemble performances. This wonderful seasonal music is enhanced by the amazing overtones and space of Immanuel Lutheran Church.

December Chantey Sing
Friday, December 14 at 8:00 pm
at Immanuel Lutheran Church

December’s Chantey Sing will be a song circle format where you have the chance to lead a song, request a song, or simply join in on the chorus. We always like to hear a new song or singer, so come and enjoy the fun!

This weekend a professional shipwright will be teaching interested volunteers the age-old art of reefing and corking (“caulking,” as they say back east). The lessons are free to anyone and will be taught from 10am to 2pm on Saturdays, December 8th and 15th aboard the 1889 tugboat Arthur Foss, docked at Lake Union Park.

Roll up your sleeves and work with an experienced shipwright who has been working in boatyards from Washington to Alaska. On December 8th, instruction will be from shipwrights Ryan and Trevor Farsovitch of Eagle Rock Boat Repair and Brian Johnson of Ocean Bay Marine. Each of them has decades of experience as commercial wooden shipwrights working on the vessels of the Washington and Alaska fishing fleets. Brian Johnson will be on hand both Saturdays so you can learn to reef and cork a deck as well!

Interested? Contact Northwest Seaport Just showing up at the Historic Ships Wharf counts, but early registrations get to warm up the mallets.

The shipwrights—Brian Johnson from Ocean Bay Marine and two brothers, Trevor and Ryan Farsovitch from Eagle Rock Boat Repair in Anacortes—will bring their years of experience repairing and rebuilding fishing boats in Kodiak and Puget Sound and teach interested volunteers the ancient art of corking (caulking, as they say on the East Coast). Visitors will have the opportunity to pick up a corking mallet and learn to hammer cotton and oakum into the seams and seal them with pitch in the traditional fashion.

Corking instruction will be done on Arthur Foss’s main deck, part of which has just been rebuilt. In learning to cork a seam, volunteers will be a part of the Stop the Leaks Project (rainwater leaks, that is). Northwest Seaport received a $25,000 Landmark Challenge Grant from King County 4Culture for the Stop the Leaks Project that paid for materials and shipwright Brian Johnson who has made major repairs to the deck and wheelhouse to stop rainwater intrusion. Rainwater is the biggest killer of wooden boats in the Northwest, feeding rot spores.

Teaching is central to preservation. Northwest Seaport is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of maritime heritage in this region and strives to preserve both its historic vessels as well as the knowledge and skills to maintain them. Most restoration work at Northwest Seaport is done as a class or workshop, teaching the traditional skills of woodworking, rigging, engine repair and other maritime trades. Students young and old, in vocational training or just curious about working on boats regularly attend Northwest Seaport programs aboard its vessels.

Some of the current vocational training is done through the Boatwright in Residence Program. Christine Jacobson, arriving from the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, is the current hire under this program run jointly between Northwest Seaport and The Center for Wooden Boats. The program provides young professional boatwrights a 10-week position working on small craft at the Center for Wooden Boats and on Northwest Seaport’s big 120ft tugboat, Arthur Foss. Aboard ArthurFoss, Jacobson works alongside veteran shipwright Brian Johnson of Ocean Bay Marine. His 40 years as a west coast shipwright enables him to give her training and work experience not available elsewhere. For someone just starting out in the field, it is a precious opportunity to learn from an extremely experienced shipwright and to work on a vessel of unusually heavy construction.

Northwest Seaport is pleased to work with marine artist Byron Birdsall and to highlight this pen and ink artwork of the tugboat Arthur Foss while underway. This artwork is the featured December 2012 month in the Foss Maritime Company’s tugboat calendar.

During Northwest Seaport’s open boarding hours in celebration of MOHAI’s grand opening on December 29, NWS will feature this image in the tug’s galley.

BIOGRAPHY: Byron Birdsall is one of Alaska’s most reknowned artists and one of Annie Kaill’s bestselling artists. His paintings feature brilliant landscapes, as well as uniquely Alaskan images such as puffins, eagles, and fishing boats. An artist with a national reputation, we are proud to represent Byron Birdsall at Annie Kaill’s.

Born in Arizona and raised in California, Byron Birdsall came to Alaska in 1975. A self-taught artist, Birdsall is a master of his preferred medium, watercolor. Best known for the variety and drama of his Alaskan landscapes, Birdsall’s unique ability to capture light is evident in all of his paintings.

Besides landscapes, Birdsall has produced florals, still-lifes, puffins, and period pieces, nostalgic renderings of historic Alaskan scenes. A prolific and immensely popular artist, Birdsall each year releases several limited edition prints. Byron Birdsall and his family reside in Anchorage. They travel extensively around Alaska and around the world, generating inspiration for new artworks.

On Friday December 7, 2012, students from the Ballard High School Maritime Academy will sail aboard the historic Steamship Virginia V, and become student engineers aboard tugboat Arthur Foss for a day of shipboard learning. Students will take the wheel, run a large diesel engine, see steam in action, answer engine bells, perform shipboard duties, observe piloting in action, and learn about education and career opportunities in the maritime fields.

Your support will provide a three hour cruise for approximately 60 students on Lake Union and Lake Washington, a morning diesel engine mini-course for 20 students aboard Northwest Seaport’s Arthur Foss, and a cold buffet lunch for participants. All students will rotate between instructional stations aboard Virginia V while the ship is underway.

Sponsorships are available in $100 increments. Sponsors at the $500 level will be recognized on the Virginia V, Northwest Seaport, and BMA websites, and all are invited to join us for the trip at the rate of one rider for each $100 donation.

4Culture recently informed Northwest Seaport that its Board of Directors approved funding for the 2012 Landmark Challenge Grants Program! We’re so grateful and wish to thank 4Culture and everyone who helped to secure the $25,000 grant.

The following is a summary of the Review Panel comments regarding Northwest Seaport proposal:

“The tugboat Arthur Foss is a National Historic Landmark which, together with its location at the new Lake Union Park Historic Ships Wharf, gives the proposed project good visibility and high public impact. Systems repairs seem urgent given the expected increase in visitation. Feasibility ranked especially high with the organization’s new paid staff on the job, and the demonstrated high standard of project planning.”

Again, Northwest Seaport is grateful for the funding and seeks to raise matching funds as soon as possible. Please support Northwest Seaport on this vital project by making a financial contribution by mail or online (PayPal).